L

Antonella Angelini

doi:10.7433/s120.2023.02

Authors

Antonella Angelini Dipartimento di Economia e Management, Università di Pisa

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7433/s120.2023.02

Keywords:

Glamping, sustainable tourism, customer experience, cause-effect diagram, Ishikawa diagrams

Abstract

Purpose of the study: Glamping (short for glamorous camping) is a type of guest accommodation that has comfort/luxury and nature/sustainability at the core of its value proposition. It can be quite challenging to combine luxury and camping in an accommodation offer, because it can be difficult for the service provider to achieve high levels of comfort in environments in close contact with nature. Guests can therefore identify critical issues during their stay. This study aims to identify and classify the causes of dissatisfaction associated with this type of accommodation.

Methodology: An exploratory qualitative study was conducted. In light of the objective of the analysis, negative reviews of 18 glamping sites located in Italy that Booking.com classifies in its Travel Sustainable program were considered. The analysis used an Ishikawa diagram to classify the causes of dissatisfaction and provides an overview of these.

Findings: Most visitors look for a well-kept indoor and outdoor environment and a professional, non-improvised service, in line with offers in the luxury category. The review analysis enabled the researcher to identify the causes of dissatisfaction, which are classified in four categories: structural aspects, relations with owners and/or managers, the external environment, and situational factors. Some of these causes are under the control of the accommodation provider while others are not, making it difficult to implement improvements.

Research limitations: It might be useful to consider a larger number of glamping sites (including those that are not part of the Travel Sustainable program) and divide the reviews by considering different customer segments (such as couples, families, single travelers, groups of friends, or business travelers) and nationality. It could also add value to conduct in-depth semi-structured interviews with owners and/or employees to understand the difficulties around implementing actions to improve guests’ experience from a management perspective.

Practical implications: Particular attention should be given to the relational aspect and the tangible part of the service, both inside and outside accommodation facilities. A customer-oriented strategic approach is essential, including monitoring the causes of dissatisfaction in order to deal with them timeously.

Originality of the study: The study considers a particular type of accommodation that is growing, considering the mega trend toward authentic and sustainable tourism.

References

ALMUHRZI H.M., AL-AZRI H.I., (2019), Conference report: second UNWTO/UNESCO world conference on tourism and culture: fostering sustainable development, International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research, Vol. 13, No 1, pp.144-150.

AKSOY M., YILMAZ Ö. (2022), Consumer Complaints and Complaint Management in the Tourism Sector, GRIMA, S., ÖZEN, E., ROMANOVA, I. (Ed.) Managing Risk and Decision Making in Times of Economic Distress, Part A (Contemporary Studies in Economic and Financial Analysis, Vol 108A), Emerald Publishing Limited, Bingley, pp. 95-111, https://doi.org/10.1108/S1569-37592022000108A034

AU, N., BUHALIS, D., LAW, R. (2014), Online complaining behavior in mainland China hotels: the perception of Chinese and non-Chinese customers, International Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Administration, Vol. 15 n. 3, pp. 248-274.

BATAT, W. (2019), Experiential marketing: consumer behavior, Customer Experience and the 7Es, Routledge, London, doi: 10.4324/9781315232201.

BAUER M., WALLPACH S. V., HEMETSBERGER A. (2011), My little luxury ─ A consumer-centred, experiential view, Marketing, Vol. 33 No 1, pp.57–68.

BOTHA E., ENGELBRECHT W.H., (2016), Green as Part of Ecotourism to Contribute to Tourists’ Experiences: A Destination Planning Approach, SOTIRIADIS M., GURSOY D. (Ed.) The Handbook of Managing and Marketing Tourism Experiences, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Bingley, pp.261-279.

BROCHADO A. (2019), Nature-based experiences in tree houses: guests’ online reviews, Tourism Review, Vol. 74 n. 3, pp. 310-326.

BROCHADO A., BROCHADO F. (2019), What makes a Glamping experience great, Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology, Vol. 10 n. 1, pp. 15-27.

CETIN, G., WALLS, A. (2016), Understanding the customer experiences from the perspective of guests and hotel managers: empirical findings from luxury hotels in Istanbul, Turkey, Journal of Hospitality Marketing and Management, Vol. 25 No. 4, pp. 395-424.

CHAN J.K., BAUM T. (2007), “Ecotourists’ perception of ecotourism experience in lower Kinabatangan, Sabah, Malaysia”, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, Vol. 15 n. 5, pp. 574-590.

CORNELISSE M. (2020), Sustainability in Ylläs: one focus, various interpretations, Journal of tourism futures, Vol. 6 n. 1, pp. 40-56, DOI 10.1108/JTF-01-2019-0003.

DALL’ARA G. (2015), Manuale dell’Albergo Diffuso, FrancoAngeli, Milano.

DINAN C., SARGEANT A. (2000), Social marketing and sustainable tourism ─ is there a match? Int. J. Tourism Res., 2: 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1522-1970(200001/02)2:1<1::AID-JTR178>3.0.CO;2-5.

GOODWIN, H. (2016), Overtourism: what is it and how do we address it? https:// responsibletourismpartnership.org/overtourism/ (accessed on April 26, 2022).

HARKISON T., HEMMINGTON N., HYDE K. F. (2018), Luxury accommodation – significantly different or just more expensive? Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management, Vol.17 n.4, pp.231–243. https://doi. org/10.1057/s41272-017-0085-1.

HEYES A., ALURI A. (2018), How millennials perceive leisure luxury hotels in a sharing economy? Research in Hospitality Management, Vol. 7 n. 2, pp.75–79. https://doi.org/10.1080/22243534. 2017.1444709.

ILORANTA R., KOMPPULA R., (2022), Service providers’ prospective on the luxury tourist experience as a product, Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism, Vol. 22, n.1, pp, 39–57 https://doi.org/10.1080/15022250.2021.1946845.

ISHIKAWA K. (1968), Guide to Quality Control, Quality Resources, White Plains, New York, NY.

ISHIKAWA K. (1976), Guide to Quality Control, Asian Productivity Organization, Tokyo.

ISHIKAWA K. (1982), What is Quality Control?, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliff, New York, NY.

ISHIKAWA K. (1985), What is Total Quality Control?, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliff, New York, NY.

KIESSLING G., BALEKJIAN C., OEHMICHEN A. (2009). What credit crunch? More luxury for new money: European rising stars & established markets, Journal of Retail and Leisure Property, Vol.8 n.1, pp. 3–23. doi: 10.1057/rlp.2008.26.

KIM Y.S., KIM J.U., PARK S.C. (2017), The effects of perceived value, website trust and hotel trust on online hotel booking intention, Sustainability, Vol. 9 n. 12:2262, pp. 1-14 https://doi.org/10.3390/su9122262.

KNUTSON B., BECK J., HIM S., CHA, J. (2006), Identifying the dimensions of the experience construct, Journal of Hospitality & Leisure Marketing, Vol. 15 n. 3, pp. 31-47.

KONGTHON, A., N. ANGKAWATTANAWIT, C. SANGKEETTRAKARN, P. PALINGOON, C. HARUECHAIYASAK (2010), Using an opinion mining approach to exploit Web content in order to improve customer relationship management, In Proc. of the 2010 Portland International Conference on Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET 2010), pp. 1355-1360.

KUME H. (1985), Statistical Methods for Quality Improvement, AOTS, Chigoya Ku, Tokyo.

LEMON K., VERHOEF P. (2016), Understanding customer experience throughout the customer journey, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 80 n.6, pp. 69-96.

LITVIN, S.W., GOLDSMITH, R.E., PAN, B. (2008), Electronic word-of-mouth in hospitality and tourism management, Tourism Management, Vol. 29 n. 3, pp. 458-468.

LU W., STEPCHENKOVA S. (2012), Ecotourism experiences reported online: classification of satisfaction attributes, Tourism Management, Vol. 33 n. 3, pp. 702-712.

McCOLLOUGH M.A., BHARADWAJ S.G. (1992), The recovery paradox: an examination of customer satisfaction in relation to disconfirmation, service quality and attribution based theories, Marketing Theory and Applications, eds C.T. Allen et al. (Chicago, IL: American Marketing Association, 1992), p.119.

MEHMETOGLU M., ENGEN M. (2011), Pine and Gilmore's Concept of Experience Economy and Its Dimensions: An Empirical Examination, Tourism, Journal of Quality Assurance in Hospitality & Tourism, Vol.12, n.4, pp.237-255, DOI: 10.1080/1528008X.2011.541847.

MIAO, L. (2011), Guilty pleasure or pleasurable guilt? Affective experience of impulse buying in hedonic driven consumption, Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, Vol. 35 n. 1, pp. 79-101.

MICHEL, S., MEUTER M. (2008), The service recovery paradox: true but overrated?, International Journal of Service Industry Management, Vol. 19 n.4, pp. 441-57.

OLIVER, R. L. (1993), A conceptual model of service quality and service satisfaction: Comparative goals, different concepts, Advances in service marketing and management, Vol.2, pp.65-85.

OTTO, J.E., RITCHIE J. (1996), The service experience in tourism, Tourism Management, Vol. 17, n. 3, pp. 165-174.

PARASURAMAN A., ZEITHAML V.A., BERRY L.L. (1994), Reassessment of Expectations as a Comparison Standard in Measuring Service Quality: Implications for Further Research, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 58, n.1, pp.111-124. doi:10.1177/002224299405800109.

PETROSILLO I., ZURLINI G., CORLIANO M.E., ZACCARELLI N., DADAMO M. (2007), Tourist perception of recreational environment and management in a marine protected area, Landscape and Urban Planning, Vol. 79, pp. 29–37.

PINE, B., GILMORE J. H. (1998), Welcome to the experience economy, Harvard Business Review, Vol.76 n.4, pp.97-105.

PINE, B., GILMORE J. H. (1999), The experience economy. Boston, MA: Harvard pp. 53-67.

SAARINEN J. (2004), Tourism and Touristic Representations of Nature: A Companion to Tourism, Blackwell Publishing, Oxford, pp. 438-49.

SCHMITT, B.H. (1999a), Experiential Marketing: How to Get Customers to Sense, Feel, Think, Act and Relate to Your Company and Brands, The Free Press, New York, NY.

SCHMITT, B.H. (1999b), Experiential marketing, Journal of Marketing Management, Vol. 15 n. 1/3.

SCHMITT, B.H. (1998), The power of a luxury experience, Luxury Briefing, (October), p. 11.

SCOTT N., LAWS E., BOKSBERGER P. (2009), The marketing of hospitality and leisure experiences, Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, Vol. 18 No 2-3, pp. 99-110.

SEE C.W., HART, HESKETT J.L., SASSER Jr W.E. (1990), The profitable art of service recovery, Harvard Business Review n.68 (July-August), pp.148-56

STEWARD M., NARUS J., ROEHM M., RITZ W. (2019), From transactions to journeys and beyond: the evolution of B2B buying process modeling, Industrial Marketing Management, Vol. 83 November, pp. 288-300.

TASCI A.D.A., FYALL A.,WOOSNAM K.M. (2022), Sustainable tourism consumer: socio-demographic, psychographic and behavioral characteristics, Tourism Review, Vol. 77 No 2, pp. 341-375.

THOMSEN T. U., HOLMQVIST J., VON WALLPACH S., HEMETSBERGER A., BELK R. W. (2020), Conceptualizing unconventional luxury, Journal of Business Research, Vol.116, pp.441–445. https://doi. org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.01.058

URIELY N. (2005). The tourist experience, Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 32 n.1, pp.199–216. https://doi.org/ 10.1016/j.annals.2004.07.008

VERISSIMO M., LOUREIRO S. M. C. (2013), Experience marketing and the luxury travel industry, Tourism&Management Studies, pp. 296–302. http://tmstudies.net/index.php/ectms/issue/view/17

VOORHEES, C.M., FOMBELLE, P.W., GREGOIRE, Y., BONE, S., GUSTAFSSON, A., SOUSA, R., WALKOWIAK, T. (2017), Service encounters, experiences and the customer journey: defining the field and a call to expand our lens, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 79, pp. 269-280

WALLS, A.R., OKUMUS, F., WANG, Y.R., KWUN, D.J.W. (2011), An epistemological view of consumer experiences, International Journal of Hospitality Management, Vol. 30 No 1, pp. 10-21.

WILLIAMS, A. (2006), Tourism and hospitality marketing: fantasy, feeling and fun, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 18 No 6, pp. 482-495

WILSON A., ZEITHMAL V.A., BITNER M.J., GREMLER D.D. (2016), Service marketing, Third European Edition, McGraw Hill.

WIRTZ J., HOLMQVIST J., & FRITZE M. P. (2020), Luxury services, Journal of Service Management, Vol. 31 No 4, pp.665–691. DOI 10.1108/JOSM-11-2019-0342.

ZHANG Y., COLE, S.T. (2016), Dimensions of lodging guest satisfaction among guests with mobility challenges: a mixed-method analysis of web-based texts, Tourism Management, Vol. 53, pp. 13-27.

ZHANG, D., ZHOU L., KEHOE, J.L., KILIC I.Y. (2016), What online reviewer behaviors really matter? Effects of verbal and nonverbal behaviors on detection of fake online reviews, Journal of Management Information Systems, Vol. 33 No 2, pp. 456-481.

Websites

https://biopianeta.it/2021/11/booking-com-lancia-il-programma-viaggi-sostenibili/ (accessed on 18 February, 2022)

https://www.statista.com/ (accessed on May 5, 2022)

https://www.idealista.it/news/vacanze/mete-turistiche/2018/09/13/127710-Glamping-che-cose (accessed on May 12, 2022)

https://news.booking.com/bookingcom-launches-first-of-its-kind-travel-sustainable-badge--to-lead-industry-in-showcasing-a-wider-variety-of-sustainable-stays-en/ (accessed on October 15, 2022)

https://www.gstcouncil.org/booking-com-unveils-travel-sustainable-badge/ (accessed on October 15, 2022)